Thanksgiving
by mysticxf
Summary: Jack envisions the Thanksgiving after the rescue.


Lost belongs to JJ Abrams and crew. I'm just borrowing for some non-profit fun. Jack envisions the Thanksgiving after the rescue. Enjoy

Lost – Thanksgiving

By Mystic

June 30th 2005

He imagines the diner tables are long and wooden. There are at least three – they need to seat over forty people. They're covered with an off-white table cloth and the napkins are the color of the leaves in the fall because they're celebrating Thanksgiving. Down the center of the table are bowls full of every kind of traditional food Jack's memory holds. String bean casseroles, vegetables, cranberry jelly in neat slices, corn bread, mashed potatoes and gravy, salads – macaroni, potato and green, corn ears, soups, and at the heads of each table are turkeys large enough to feed them.

Jack smiles as he starts to carve into the bird. He imagines it would be juicy, because it's been cooked to perfection for them -- they've been on a deserted island for forty days after all. They start to pass down plates with gold trimming and he deposits the pieces, handing the plates back and hears them rounding the tables, occasionally clinking on glasses of wine or thumping to a stop in front of a hungry person. He inhales the thick aroma of food and bits his lip as he finishes, sitting for the first time and pulling his seat under the table.

He places his napkin on his lap neatly and smiles as a basket of bread is handed to him. Taking a piece, he looks over to Sayid at his side and nods, handing him the basket so it continues around the table. Dishes pass him and occasionally he adds to his plate until it's full and then he takes a moment to look around the tables. Some say their prayers, some don't, but no one takes another second to think on it, they just dig into their food.

Claire has a bottle for Aaron who's too small to eat and Charlie fusses over her, taking the boy so she can have some food. He tells her she's gotten thin and she slaps him playfully on the arm. Someone calls for him to play some tracks off his planned album, the one inspired by the stay on the island and he turns a bright red, but his eyes widen with a sort of pride that they'd want him to. Claire stares at the man with the mop of blonde hair and Jack can see that she's fallen for him.

He shakes his head and watches as Hurley takes a second round of bread. He tells someone it's a Spanish thing and they laugh. He's paying for everything. Says he doesn't want the money anyways. He pays for their cars because no one wants to get on planes anymore. He gets them extended warranties and AAA cards. Shannon leans into the large man and Jack's missed the joke, watching them laugh together. He sighs and grins and shakes his head watching Hurley's cheeks brighten and he starts to tell Shannon something. She turns away though.

It's not on purpose, he knows. Shannon isn't that way anymore. She apologizes to Hurley and looks to Sayid who has her hand and is whispering to her. Jack wonders what they talk about because she leans into him and gives him a kiss on the lips, running a hand through his loose hair. Sayid raises a hand and stops the cornbread as it comes by, taking a piece and offers some to Shannon who shakes her head and then, upon seeing Sayid's expression, shrugs and takes some, smiling. She seems bashful, with only a few things on her plate, but soon she's eating and brushing her hand against Sayid's on his wine glass every so often, telling him secrets.

He sees it's the same with Jin and Sun. The time apart has brought them closer together than anyone on the island. They hold hands and he sees she has a white flower tucked neatly in her hair. Jin strokes her cheek and gets the salt for her when she asks. They share grins and Korean poetry and Jack feels his heart swell knowing how far they'd come. He watches Jin turn to Michael and began speaking in broken English, just a few words. Michael slaps a hand on his back and laughs. Jin grins back, pleased, and then tells his wife. Her chair leans back slightly as she tosses herself back in it with a laugh.

Walt asks what's going on. He's beating his father's shoulder like a drum and looking excited. His plate is half empty, and he jumps when Sawyer thumps him with a bowl of mashed potatoes. Walt shakes his head and makes a face, flaring his nose and lowering his eyebrows in an amused manor that makes Sawyer chuckle before pointing at the boy and telling him something Michael agrees with. Walt looks depressed, biting the inside of his cheek and watching the older man spoon out a heap of white onto his plate. Walt thumbs his fork and nudges his father, rolling his eyes and taking a bite.

Sawyer nods his head to Jack and then takes a plate of cranberry jelly slices from Locke, scrapping two off the plate onto his turkey with a shrug at whatever Locke is telling him. Sawyer runs a hand through his hair and begins a discussion with the older man at his side and Jack grins. Who'd have thought these two could have civilized conversation, he thinks to himself with a laugh. Jack turns to his right, starts to smile, he starts to speak, he starts to share a piece of cornbread, but the chair is empty and he stops.

His head whips around looking for her. They're all talking and laughing and enjoying their diner and no one's notice she's gone. Jack stands quickly, his chair clattering behind him, but no one hears. No one cares. Jack shouts as loudly as he can, he screams her name and feels his heart pounding in his chest. There's sweat dripping down his back and dampening his forehead as his breaths get shorter and his pulse gets faster. But everyone goes on about their business like he's not even there. Jack takes a step away from the tables and Sawyer looks his way.

"What's the problem Doc? Sit back down and enjoy your freedom," he tells him calmly.

Jack shakes his head and he pushes through the large double doors behind him, through to the long grey hallway that leads to the single room at the end. The walls are concrete and there's only a small fluorescent light in the ceiling, over a cage no one can break. It hums above her as she sits in her jail cell on her thin dingy mattress with the metal plate in her hands. Her fork pokes at the turkey lump a moment before she decides it's edible. There's a small loaf of beige bread and a small heap of corn sprinkled with pepper.

He calls her name, but she doesn't hear him. She pulls her hair behind her ears and he sees she's crying. She's been crying for a long time. Her eyes are bloodshot, her cheeks are scarlet and her lips are pouted. Kate sniffs loudly and her body convulses with more tears, tears that roll down her face and drip into her food, food she tries to eat, but when she puts it on her lips, she makes a face like it's sour. Jack walks into the bars, gripping them with his hands and he shouts her name again.

Her body stiffens and he gives a gasp of surprise, waiting as she turns her head slowly and looks at him. It's when he wakes up. It's always when he wakes up. His heart is in his throat and he's sweating. Gulping air, Jack stares up at the night sky and then jerks up, staring down where Kate had laid down to sleep. She's not there and he panics. It's his dream working him up, he knows her, knows she's just around the corner, but he gets up anyways to check.

Jack finds her with her back pressed up against an old log that's dead and dried out. She frowns in her sleep and her eyebrows furrow and he wonders what she dreams. He's never asked, never thought to. Jack wonders if she dreams about Thanksgiving. He wonders if she sees herself in her jail cell with her stale bread and her dry turkey and her water. He kneels next to her and strokes her cheek, watching the corner of her mouth drift upwards momentarily.

Kate breaths his name and her eyes flutter open, seeing him staring down at her. He wonders what she's thinking, at that moment, but he doesn't ask. He lays down close to her and watches as she continues to look at him, so many questions dancing on her face, but she doesn't let them out. He holds her hand and he closes his eyes and he imagines she's at the table now. She's there when he passes the cornbread and she makes a face at him, the one she gives him when he's being weird.

She moves forward and kisses his lips gently and it feels real. Her hand touches his cheek and he blushes and he turns away and cuts her a piece of turkey, putting it on her plate and she starts to talk to him. Kate tells him everything he wants to hear and Jack is happy.

Finis


End file.
